Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 4.djvu/149

EIGHT EENTH CONGRESS. S1sss.II. Ch. 64. 1825. 103 expenditures in the said department, to be adjusted and settled as other public accounts. He shall also, superintend the business of the department, in all the duties that are, or may be, assigned to it: Provided, That, P'°'i¤°· in case of the death, resignation, or removal from office, of the Postmaster General, all his duties shall be performed by his senior assistant, until a successor shall be appointed, and arrive at the general post-oliice, to perform the business. Sr-1c. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster General, and all All P°;’9”'h other persons employed in the general post-office, or in the care, custody, ;;I;_;,¥cc;;d° or conveyance of the mail, shall, previous to entering upon the duties others attached assigned to them,or [in] the execution of their trusts, and before they shall *0 nin MY WW be entitled to receive any emolument therefor, respectively take and {,°;;;,e° Qfftejflfg subscribe the following oath, or ailirmation, before some magistrate, and upon the duties cause a certificate thereof to be filed in the genera] posteoffice: “I, A. °f *h°i¤” °m°¤· B. do swear or aflirm, (as the case may be,) that I will faithfully perform Om" all the duties required of me, and abstain from every thing forbidden by the laws in relation to the establishment of the post-office and post-roads within the United States." Every person, who shall be, in any manner, employed in the care, custody, conveyance, or management of the mail, shall be subject to all pains, penalties, and forfeitures, for violating the injunctions, or neglecting the duties, required of him by the laws relating to the establishment of the post-office and post-roads, whether such person shall have taken the oath or anirmation, above prescribed, or not. Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the The Postmas- Postmaster General, upon the appointment of any postmaster, to W G¤Q¤*‘¤i» <>¤ require, and take, of such postmaster, bond, with good and approved ;g§;;L2;°5,°;`g security, in such penalty as he may judge sufficient, conditioned for the receive froin faithful discharge of all the duties of such postmaster, required by law, him bend With or which may be required by any instruction, or general rule, for the g°°d “°°““*Y‘ government of the department: Provided, however, That, if default shall Prcvirc. be made by the postmaster aforesaid, at any time, and the Postmaster General shall fail to institute suit against such postmaster, and said sureties, for two years from and after such default shall be made, then, and in that case, the said sureties shall not be held liable to the United States, nor shall suit be instituted against them. Sec. 4. And be it farther enacted, That the Postmaster General shall Ahtheyity cause a mail to be carried from the nearest post-oflice, on any established given the P<>¤t»· post—road, to the courthouse of any county which is now, or may here- m""" G°“°’°1• after be established, in any of the states or territories of the United States, and which is without a mail; and the road, on which such mail shall be transported, shall become a post-road, and so continue, until the transportation thereon shall ceasc. It shall also be lawful for the Postmaster General to enter into contracts, for a term not exceeding four years, for extending the line of posts, and to authorize the persons, so contracting, as a compensation for their expenses, to receive, during the continuance of such contracts, at rates not exceeding those for like distances, established by this act, all the postage which shall arise on letters, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, and packets, conveyed by any such posts; and the roads designated in such contracts, shall, during the continuance thereof, be deemed and considered as post-roads, within the provision of this act: and a duplicate of every such contract shall, within sixty days after the execution thereof be lodged in the office of the comptroller of the treasury of the United States. Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the Postmaster General be The until te authorized to have the mail carried in any steamboat, or other vessel, be °°;;'°dl;¤ t which shall be used as a packet, in any of the waters of the United ::{,sh;u;,,;s:] States, on such terms and conditions as shall be considered expedi— used asapacket. ent: Provided, That he does not pay more than three cents for each Proviw.